memeorandum: E.P.A. Employees Spoke Out. Then Came Scrutiny of Their Email. (New York Times)

10:15 PM ET, December 17, 2017

Top Items:

Sen. John McCain returns to Arizona, will miss vote on GOP tax bill — Republican Sen. John McCain is returning to Arizona after spending several days in a Maryland hospital recovering from side effects from chemotherapy treatment for brain cancer, CBS News has learned.

Discussion: RedState, Arizona Republic, Washington Post, Politico, CNN, The Daily Beast, New York Times, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Democrats.com, Axios, The Guardian, twitchy.com, IJR and AOL

David Sirota / International Business Times:

Tax Bill: John Cornyn Says Tax Cut Potentially Benefiting Bob Corker Was Part Of Effort To Secure Votes For Passage — Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the majority whip, on Sunday said a tax provision, which could personally enrich key Republican lawmakers, was added to the final tax bill as part of an effort to …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and ABC News

Emily Stewart / Vox:

John Cornyn doesn't have a good answer on tax bill loophole that means millions for Corker and Trump — “What we've tried to do is cobble together the votes we needed to get this bill passed.” — Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on Sunday said the decision to include a provision in the Republican tax plan …

Discussion: CNBC, Tennessean.com, Politicus USA, NewsBusters, Common Dreams, The Hill, Fox News and International Business Times

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
McCain returns to Arizona, won't vote on GOP tax bill: report

Discussion: CBS News

New York Times:
The Winners and Losers in the Tax Bill

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump: “My people are very upset” about Mueller obtaining emails — Officials of President Trump's transition team plan to ask Special Counsel Robert Mueller to return “many tens of thousands” of transition emails they contend were unlawfully provided to him.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Hullabaloo, The Right Scoop, The Week and emptywheel, more at Mediagazer »

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

Mueller team defends obtaining Trump transition emails — Special counsel Robert Mueller's office on Sunday defended its work after a lawyer for President Trump — 's transition team accused investigators of improperly obtaining thousands of emails from transition officials.

Discussion: RedState and AOL

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Image of Cooperation Between White House and Mueller Starts to Fracture

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice

Aída Chávez / The Intercept:
Former Nixon White House Counsel: Trump Might Have Obstructed Justice to Prevent Russia Investigation

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Martin Matishak / Politico:
Firing Mueller ‘obviously’ up to Trump, Mnuchin says

Discussion: CNN

Carrie Johnson / NPR: 3 Ways Trump Or His Allies Might Try To Disrupt The Mueller Russia Probe

Gregg Jarrett / Fox News:
Mueller's allegedly lawless acts have corrupted his probe and demand his removal

Discussion: IJR

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:

Kremlin says Putin thanked Trump for CIA tip on bombings — MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned U.S. President Donald Trump Sunday to thank him for a CIA tip that helped thwart a series of bombings in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin said.

Discussion: TASS, New York Magazine, Axios and The Daily Caller

Poolreports / Public Pool:
Subject: Readout of President Donald J. Trump's Call with President Vladimir Putin

Discussion: IJR

David Filipov / Washington Post:
Putin thanks Trump for CIA intel that foiled a planned terrorist attack in Russia

Discussion: Power Line, Bloomberg, Splinter, The Gateway Pundit and TheBlaze

Washington Post: Putin phoned Trump to thank him for CIA intel that foiled a planned terrorist attack in Russia, the Kremlin says

BBC:
Trump Putin call: CIA ‘helped stop Russia terror attack’

Discussion: Shareblue Media, RedState and NBC News

CNN:

Power outage cripples Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport — (CNN)A power outage at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest airport, is leaving thousands of passengers stranded and planes grounded indefinitely. — The Federal Aviation Administration issued …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raw Story, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York and New York Magazine

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Ex-Obama transportation chief on Atlanta airport power outage: ‘Total and abject failure’ — A former transportation secretary in the Obama administration ripped Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta for its response to a massive power outage on Sunday. — “Total and abject failure here at ATL Airport today.

Discussion: The Guardian and Raw Story

Cornel West / The Guardian:

Ta-Nehisi Coates is the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle — The disagreement between Coates and me is clear: his view of black America is narrow and dangerously misleading — a-Nehisi Coates' We Were Eight Years in Power, a book about Barack Obama's presidency and the tenacity …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:

Mark Hamill strikes back at Cruz: Thanks for ‘smarm-spaining’ net neutrality to me — Mark Hamill struck back at Sen. Ted Cruz — (R-Texas) after Cruz tried to use the actor's “Star Wars” movies to defend net neutrality. — “Luke, I know Hollywood can be confusing …

Discussion: Politico, RedState, IJR and The Daily Beast

New York Times:

E.P.A. Employees Spoke Out. Then Came Scrutiny of Their Email. — WASHINGTON — One Environmental Protection Agency employee spoke up at a private lunch held near the agency headquarters, saying she feared the nation might be headed toward an “environmental catastrophe.”

more at Mediagazer »

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

How China got a U.S. senator to do its political bidding — A congressional delegation led by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) presents frozen steaks to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on April 10 in Beijing. The gift was meant to underscore the importance of opening Chinese markets to U.S. beef imports.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Paranoia grips Capitol Hill as harassment scandal spreads — The details change almost daily, but the rumor won't die: A credible news organization is preparing to unmask at least 20 lawmakers in both parties for sexual misconduct. — Speculation about this theoretical megastory is spreading …

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:

Sarah Palin's oldest son, Track, arrested on domestic violence charges — Track Palin is shown at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in September 2008. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) — Track Palin, the oldest son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin …

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Democrats hold biggest lead in congressional preference since 2008 — WASHINGTON — Fresh off their victory in Alabama's special Senate election, Democrats now enjoy their largest advantage in congressional preference in nine years, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll …

Discussion: Axios